Stephanie earns a base salary of $200.00 every week with an additional 11% commission on everything she sells. If Stephanie sold $550.00 worth of items last week, what was her total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $11\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{11}{100}$ which is also equal to $11 \div 100$ $11 \div 100 = 0.11$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.11$ $\times$ $$550.00$ $=$ $$60.50$ We can find the total salary for Stephanie by adding the amount of commission made to her base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$60.50$ $+$ $$200.00$ $=$ $$260.50$ The total salary Stephanie made last week was $$260.50$.